NYSE Amex Options Is Open and Ready for Business

By: twilemon

File Under: Options

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From Todd Wilemon: In a short eight months, the Amex got a complete makeover. The magnitude of what happened was staggering. A new trading floor, a new trading platform, and a new broker trading system all went live on March 2nd despite a winter storm that dumped seven inches of snow on Lower Manhattan. What it means for NYSE Amex Options retail customers and professional traders alike is vastly improved speed, capacity and reliability, with the tighter markets and more liquidity that comes along with superior technology.

Ed Boyle, senior vice president, NYSE Euronext U.S. Options put it best in describing how the new NYSE Amex Options exchange is “customer centric.” Public customers have priority. Whether accessing the exchange via electronic connectivity or through on floor open outcry representation, customers trade first, and they never pay to trade.

Action on the new floor is exciting. As the opening bell rings, brokers are moving around the floor getting quotes and sizing up interest as market makers start streaming quotes electronically into the markets. Phones are ringing, people are yelling and trades start to hit the tape. The distinctive tones of a new IM (instant message) can be heard over the din of activity.

The new floor is in two rooms with circular posts in both. Floor broker operations are located in booths around the perimeter of the rooms. Standing inside the posts are Specialist market maker firms streaming quotes into the electronic market. Gathered around the outer part of the posts are market makers also streaming in electronic market quotes. Everyone has at least two screens to look at and some have even more, all the while keeping an ear out for a Floor Broker sprinting into the crowd with an order for open outcry execution.

Following one of the floor brokers around really gives a taste of what trading is like on the new floor. Imagine dashing into a trading crowd, calling for a market, sizing up interest, executing a trade in open outcry. You clear the book of any customer interest at your price, add the contra parties (those who are taking the other side of the trade) and send the trade to the tape. Whew! All of this on your tablet p.c. hanging from your neck.

The first few days were an adventure, to say the least. Some glitches, both technical and human, were to be expected as people got used to the new digs and new technology. Anyone who has ever connected a new printer or set up a new DVD player knows how one missed setting or one crossed wire leads to frustration and time spent problem solving, but with a fiercely dedicated staff working overtime to provide real time solutions wherever difficulties arose in those first few days, the trading floor quickly gained airspeed and elevation—Lift Off! The brand new NYSE Amex Options exchange, a 21st century marvel of technology and human innovation, is a success story, and it has been a big thrill to be part of this transition.

To all the people who have been involved getting the NYSE Amex options up and running including: exchange staff across all departments and many cities, to trading officials, brokers and clerks, market makers and specialists – GREAT JOB!

Enjoy the new home. The future looks bright.

Trade ‘em up!

TW